Paola and I are a family located in a rural area of Northern Italy (about two hours drive from Venice). We have been serving the Lord together since 1981; where by the Grace of God we were able to plant a new church, and we have been leading it ever since (it has around 70 – 80 members at the present time), Mirco works together with another Elder. We also cooperate with some different churches, (preaching and pastoral care) having a vision to help in the growth of the local testimony. The area of our ministry is vast, and we need to reach out to many places that are not too close to our home. Our mission is to proclaim the Holy Gospel in our zone, where the Christian witness is so poor, and we desire to bring a lot of souls to salvation. We fight daily against false religion, as most of the people here have never heard or understood the true Gospel, many of whom live in superstition.
PROJECT HISTORY:
Our project is to plant churches in many nearby towns around us, having several of our church members living in these different towns and starting bible studies in their homes to increase and help the local witness. Our motto is ‘A little church for every town’. We realize that this is an ambitious program, but relying on God’s Grace, we believe it is possible. To achieve this goal, we need most of all wisdom, a lot of patience, a great love for people, a non-judgmental spirit, and a good collaboration with the Body of Christ — firstly with the Italian Church (which is very small), and also with brothers and sisters around the world who have a real burden for our country which has been a slave of darkness for many years. We have a book table with Christian literature placed in our open markets in the towns of Ostiglia, Poggio Rusco , Castelmassa, and also Sermide (where we live).
During the spring and summer and at Christmas, we hold open air evangelistic events such as Christian music concerts and preaching in the streets. At Christmas time we have collaborated with Ken and Ruth Stearns and their music ministry team from Frontier School of the Bible in LaGrange, Wyoming, USA, to proclaim the Gospel in the Town Halls, Nursing Homes, Hospitals, and Kinder Gardens. It has been really wonderful to see this happen each year during the Christmas season and to see so many doors open.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Mirco:
I was born in a rural part of Northern Italy. I was brought up in a Catholic home, and my parents were active communists. My first experience with the Lord was at six when I had a very serious eye accident. I felt the Lord’s presence and knew He was calling me to follow Him.
As I got into my teenage years I fell away from my idea of wanting to follow Christ and got involved in the Hippie movement. I was looking for an alternative society. After two to three years of this life style, having seen many friends go out of their minds with drugs and immorality, and others going to prison, I became disillusioned and left this way of living.
In the meantime, my father died of cancer at the age of 44, I was then 19. I decided to return to the Catholic Church and went to many monasteries looking for a way to find God and please Him, but this was in vain.
Through reading the book of Romans and a book called ‘The Jesus Revolution’ I became Born Again and immediately started to preach the Gospel to everyone I met. I have continued with this Evangelistic gift since.
Paola:
I was brought up in Yorkshire, an industrial town in England. My Italian parents were Catholic, I never liked or enjoyed going to church. I had no interest for the things of God. But at age 14, my father started working for a textile factory in the country of Iran and after two years we sold our house and I and my mother moved to Isfahan, Iran, too. Here my life was turned around and I had to discover my real identity, faith, and values. I met two American missionaries who were working for the Christian Hospital. They invited me to go with them to the Evangelical Church. This I did, and after reading the New Testament and frequenting the believers, I understood the love of Christ and my need for salvation — I became Born Again. At the age of 19 God called me to be a full-time missionary among Muslim women in Iran/Afghanistan/Pakistan for almost two years. I then went to live with my parents who had moved to Northern Italy. This is where I met my husband, Mirco.
